Outcast
by HarrisM12345
Summary: A story of love, hate, friendships, and betrayal. Based hundreds of years before Aang was Avatar, but that doesn't stop the Fire Nation from being evil... OC story, will eventually get very very long... PICTURES ONLINE!
1. A baby girl is born

I DON'T OWN AVATAR! and I don't think I'm getting it for christmas.

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"The baby's coming!" A woman said to her husband. It was late in the southern water tribe. The man got up, help up his wife, and ran outside. They got to the hospital and two hours later, they were parents. The mother looked down at her child. All the healers gasped with her and the father as they realized that this was no ordinary child. There were blue triangular markings all over her body. The mother cried, thinking her daughter was sick, but the healers told her different.

"Liyue" The mother said, staring into her child's eyes.

"What?" Asked the father. She looked up at him and repeated herself.

"Liyue, that's what I want to name her." The mother said. Liyue fell asleep in her mother's arms.


	2. A child meets a friend

"Mommy!" a five year old Liyue yelled from just inside her front door. "You said we would go to the park today! Let's go!" her mother cam to the door. She was worried about taking Liyue out, she always was. But she had to. Liyue had to go outside and be with other children, even the ones that made fun of her for how she looked.

"Okay Liyue, we'll go now." They walked to the playground, many people staring at her discolored face along the way. They got to the park and noticed that a lot of the other children were staring at her, asking their mother's what was wrong with her. Liyue didn't notice, but her mother did, and thinking about it made her sigh. A little boy, the same age as Liyue, walked up to her as she played in the snow.

"Hi! I'm Xuan. What's your name?" he asked innocently.

"I'm Liyue." She smiled and looked up at him.

"I like that name. What's on your face?" he asked pointing at the blue markings on her face.

"I don't know, but I've always had them." Liyue said. He smiled really big and sat down next to her. Liyue's mother smiled. She had few friends because not many people wanted to get to close to her.


	3. Our story begins

"Bye mom." Liyue, now fifteen, yelled to her mom. "Bye honey, have fun at your class." Liyue closed the door behind her and started walking to the center of town, where a large building stood out from the rest. She went inside and found her way to a room where other children were waiting for master Jiang, their water bending teacher. The room grew quit when she entered. Everyone stared at her face. Liyue sighed and found a seat in the corner where, hopefully, everone would forget about her. She heard whispers of 'Who's that?' and 'What's wrong with her?' buzzing through the room. She had gotten used to it. She was overcome by joy when Xuan walked in the room. Everywhere he went, girls would go crazy over him. He was tall, handsome and ripped. At first, he too sighed as all the girls looked up at him with eyes almost too familiar. He spotted Liyue in the back and went to go sit with her when another girl walked in front of him and grabbed his wrist.

"Come sit over here, with me." Liyue's smile faded as she started to pull him away. But, to everyone's surprise, he pulled his wrist from her hand.

"I can find a seat, thank you." He walked back towards Liyue and sat next to her. He sat and Liyue giggled at the expression on the other girl's face. Xuan saw it and quietly laughed too. The girl's angry face turned to a devious one as she walked to the back of the room and sat next to him. She was soon followed the rest of the girls in the class, and then the rest of the boys. They took no notice though; they just continued their conversation as they would. This really pissed off the other girl. She started to really try to get his attention, mostly by laughing at everything he said that could possibly be funny. He just rolled his eyes and continued to talk. Soon, Master Jiang walked through the door, confused at why everyone was sitting in the back corner.

"Will anyone volunteer to come sit up her?" she asked. Everyone looked at her with a face that said 'not me'. After a moment of silence, Xuan raised his hand.

"We'll go." He said, standing up and grabbing Liyue's hand to help her stand too.

"Well then, I guess that's enough people." Master Jiang said sarcastically. The girl who was sitting next to Xuan stood.

"I'll go too." She got up and walked over to them. They both sighed, she was starting to get annoying.

"Sorry, I forgot to introduce myself," she started as she took her seat next to Xuan, "I'm Niu."

"Nice to meet you." He said dully and looked away.

"Really?" she asked.

"No." he mumbled under his breath. Liyue giggled.

"What?!" She asked, her face growing red with anger.

"Nothing." He said, acting innocent by blinking as though to be showing off his eyelashes. Niu got mad and looked the other way. Liyue put her hand over her mouth trying to stop herself from breaking out with laughter.

"Are we done here?" Master Jiang asked rhetorically.

"Yes Ma'am." Liyue and Xuan said in unison.

"Good, then let's begin. As you may already know, we will start this year doing gymnastics."

"Why?" A girl in the back asked.

"Because," the teacher started, "gymnastics will help you improve your fighting skills. You have to be able to move gracefully and skillfully if you want to fight. So, everyone get in your gymnastics uniforms."

"What uniform?" Liyue asked, shooting her hand into the air.

"They are gymnastics leotards." The teacher said dully. "Shouldn't that be obvious?" They all walked up to the front of the class where they each grabbed a uniform in their size.

"I can't wear this!" Liyue yelled holding up her leotard. It was a deep blue torso leotard, so it would show off her arms and legs, with a fuzzy collar.

"You have to." Master Jiang said. Liyue sighed. Xuan wondered why Liyue was so distressed over wearing a leotard. It became obvious though only a few minutes later, when the girls all walked out of the changing room. Xuan saw all the girls giggling as he waited outside for Liyue. Niu tried to drag him off, but he didn't budge. She stormed off mad and walk over to the center of the arena where the other students waited. Liyue came out a couple moments after everyone else. She was holding herself in a way that made it obvious she felt uncomfortable in the clothing. He could tell why, the blue markings that had dominated her face ran along her arms and legs too. _I wonder where ELSE she has blue markings…_ Xuan thought. He blinked quickly, trying to erase the thoughts from his mind. She stared at the ground with an ashamed look on her face. Everyone was staring at her and pointing, laughing, or giggling. She sighed and started to walk slowly towards the rest of the class. Xuan put his arm around her shoulder as he did often when they walked. She looked up at him smiled, and put her arm around his waist.

"Thanks." She said quietly.

"Any time." He said through a smile. All of the girls stared with awe and jealousy as the boy they all wanted to be held by walked past them by the class outcast. She was smiling now, and Xuan was happy he could make her feel happy in her time of need. They laughed at the expression on everybody's faces as they walked together.

Liyue felt confident for the rest of the class. Xuan always had a way of making her feel better. When getting into partners, Master Jiang was smart enough to pair the two together. When class ended, Xuan changed quickly and waited outside the girls changing room, Liyue waited for everyone else to leave before changing, and when she finally got out, she saw almost every girl from her class hanging on Xuan's arms, begging for an escort home. Liyue laughed and waved good-bye as she left him with the girls. Her smile faded as soon as her back turned, that is, until she heard him excusing himself from the girls (who followed him anyway) and caught up with her.

"Hey." He said, out of breath from escaping the girls.

"Hey." Liyue said, her smile returning.

"Want to walk home together?" He asked he heard all the girls who were still following him groan and disperse. Liyue laughed and grabbed his waist, like she always had. He took this as a yes and put his arm around her shoulder. They had barely gotten to he front door of the building when Niu ran up and grabbed Xuan's free arm.

"Hi Xuan." She said cheerfully. Xuan looked over to Liyue and rolled his eyes. She ughed and he turned to look at Nui. He sighed and said:

"Hi."

"Do you want to do something on Friday? Like, go on a date." Nui asked, still with the cheer in her voice. Liyue's heart fell into her stomach when she asked this. They had spent every Friday night together for as long as she could remember. Xuan pulled his arm form her grip.

"Sorry, I have plans." He said dully and kept walking. Nui had stopped when Xuan pulled his arm from her.

"With who, that freak?" She yelled to him. They both turned around to look at her.

"Well, yeah. It's better than having plans with you." Liyue broke out into laughter as they turned back around and continued to walk. Nui screamed and stomped her foot to the floor, causing it to slightly crack.

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Please review! if anyone is reading this, review!

Also, if you want a spoiler to see that the story WILL eventually get more interesting, just let me know and I'll message a sneek peek to you.


	4. The titleless chapter

"Thanks." Liyue said as the two of them approached her house.

"I always have fun walking with you." Xuan said, a huge smile stretching across his face.

"No… I mean about earlier today." She said sheepishly.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"I get really… insecure… when people can see me, the real me, my markings." Her head hung in shame as she spoke.

"The real you isn't your markings." He started. She looked up at him confused. "The real you goes deeper than that, below your skin." She smiled softly. "You're a beautiful person, don't let anyone tell you different." She looked up at him adoringly.

"Great, now I have to thank you again…" They laughed and she hugged him. "Thank you."_Go ahead, kiss him_ a little voice in Liyue's head yelled. She ignored the thoughts and the urge, but couldn't help but stare into his eyes.

"Seeing you smile is thanks enough." _Kiss her!_ His thought seemed to yell at him. They were just standing there holding each other, staring into the other's eyes.

"Liyue! Is that you outside?" Her mother yelled from in the house. They quickly let go of each other and, not letting the other see, blushed.

"Okay… Bye then…" Liyue said.

"Uh… Yeah… Right… Bye…" Xuan walked away and Liyue sighed. _Why do I have to mess everything up?_

"Mom?" Nui yelled, trying to figure out if her mother was home or not. She was just walking into her house near the center of the city.

"Yes?" Her mother yelled back. She came down the man staircase of their large house. "How was your lesson?" Nui remembered how she had made a fool out of herself, not even being able to do a cartwheel, and how Xuan had completely rejected her. Just as she was about to blow off an explanation by saying 'fine', she got a devious idea.

"I didn't do too well with the gymnastics, I think I could use some help." She had a look in her eyes that anyone would recognize as evil, but her mother ignored it.

"Then you should try to get your master's help." Her mother offered.

"I can't do that, it would be so uncool. Maybe… I could get help from another student."

"Do you know one that can help you?"

"I'm sure I can think of one."

"Oh… good Xuan, you're home." Xuan's mother said as she walked in the house carrying two bags of food from the market. Xuan sprang off of his seat and went to help his mother carry the bags to the kitchen. "I saw one of your friend's mom, and she said that her daughter need some help with catching up with the class. I told her you would be happy to help."

"Um… Sure. Who is it?"

"I think her name was Nui, and she said that she could meet you this Friday." His mom said, trying to remember the details. He immediately regretted agreeing to it and told his mother so.

"You know it's a good thing to help someone in need. Now, I already told her you would be there, so you'll be there."

All week, Nui rubbed into everyone's faces, though mostly Liyue's, that she had a date with Xuan. Xuan would always say that it wasn't a date and that his mother was forcing him to do it, but Nui would gat mad and tell him to not be modest.

"I guess that ruins your cute little plans." Nui said mockingly to Liyue and Xuan. They both ignored her, which only made her more angry.

"Good luck dealing with her." Liyue joked on Thursday as they walked home together.

"I'm gonna need it." They laughed, said their good-byes and split paths to go home.

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if anyone can come up with a name for this chapter that doesn't make the end completely obvious, please let me know!

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Please Review!!!!!


	5. See Pics!

To Pictures of Liyue and a bunch of other characters, go here:

http://kerwinm12345.

deviantart.

com/

gallery/

(sorry, it wouldn't let me write it in one line for some reason... so just copy and paste it in pieces)

(be sure to include the "dot"s)

oh yeah... some f the characters on there haven't been introduced in the story yet... sorry...


	6. A date with Nui

The next day, just as school was ending, Nui wrote an address on Xuan's hand

"Meet me here in an hour." She instructed. As she walked away, he turned to Liyue and grabbed her arm.

"What are you doing?" A confused Liyue questioned. He removed his hand to show an imprint of Nui's address on her arm.

"Meet me here in two hours." He said. She laughed, knowing how upset Nui would be.

An hour later, Xuan walked into the courtroom of the large house that Nui lived in. _This place is big. I knew she was from a wealthy family, but I never suspected they were THIS rich._ He was pulled out of his thoughts by the sound of Nui's voice.

"Hi!" she said gleefully. Xuan rolled his eyes and she pretended not to notice. "Let's go! We have a lot of work to do in an hour!" She said, still gleefully. _Finally, I have enough time alone with him to make him mine!_ She thought as a huge smile spread across her face, but Xuan could see the evil in it. He knew what she was thinking.

Before they started training, Nui invited him in for some tea. Xuan kept his talking to a minimum, which angered Nui. Xuan thought it was funny how she kept on a fake smile when she was so obviously angry. They made their way outside into the courtyard, where anyone walking past could see them training. The first thing they tried to conquer was a cartwheel. Unlike he and Liyue, Nui was to busy playing with expensive toys and trinkets to just go outside and play in the snow. Nui seemed very into the 'hands-on' assistance, asking him to hold her waist and thighs in an attempt to make him attracted to her. Much to her discontent, it didn't work.

Liyue was walking though a small part of town where the houses were big and the people were rich. She looked down at the address written backwards on her arm. It was about the time she was supposed to meet Xuan at Nui's house. She walked and Nui's eyes met hers, though Xuan's back was turned to her. _I have to do something, and fast! _Nui thought. She quickly grabbed Xuan's shirt and pulled him into a kiss. She broke apart before Xuan could push her away. Before he could tell her how crazy she was, he heard Liyue giggling from behind him.

"I came to walk home with you, but if you want to stay…" She joked. Xuan felt a sudden fear come over him. What if Liyue thought that he and Nui had really just been kissing? She laughed at his worried and surprised expression. "So, what's it gonna be, loverboy?" Nui, of course, loved the thought that someone believed that she and Xuan were a couple.

"Let's go." He said quickly, Liyue still laughing. Nui was obviously angered that he had decided to leave, but smiled and waved goodbye to him as he left anyway. She really would do anything to get him to like her, wouldn't she?

Liyue and Xuan walked through town to the edge of the iceberg, where they always went on Fridays.

"You know that nothing, like, happened, right? I mean… between me and Nui-" he stuttered. Liyue laughed.

"Really?" she started sarcastically. "I thought you guys were going out now…" They both laughed at the stupidity of the idea of him and Nui being together. But deep down, Liyue WAS jealous that she had kissed him, even if it wasn't real. She banished the thoughts to the back of her head. Xuan was having the same problem, why did he want to kiss her so badly? He convinced himself that he was just confused or something.

"You know what I love about you?" Liyue asked Xuan as the sat at the steep edge of the iceberg. _Woah! Hold up! Did she just say she LOVED me?_ "You're such a great friend." What she had said earlier finally processed in Xuan's mind and he ignored the misconception, or, at least he tried to. But he snapped out of his thoughts when Liyue began to speak again. "There's something about being with you, that makes me feel, well… normal." Xuan, who was avoiding her gaze, looked up at her and saw her staring into the water below them. A tear rolled down her cheek and slid off her chin. She watched it fall until it was so far away, she couldn't see it. It was so quiet right there, between the two of them, that she was surprised she couldn't hear it hit the water, even though it was far out of sight. Xuan wanted to change the subject. Everytime they talked about Liyue feeling like an outcast, he was hit with the urge to kiss her.

"You know Nui can't even do a cartwheel?" _Thank the spirits he said that! Every time we talk about my markings, I just want to kiss him! I want him to hold me tight and never let go._ Liyue laughed. She stood up and did a cartwheel in the middle of her sentence.

"Well, what can I say, it's pretty hard stuff!" They laughed as Liyue continued to spin around. Without noticing it, Liyue was dangerously close to the edge of the iceberg. Just as Xuan was about to point it out, Liyue's hand landed just on the edge and she lost her balance. She screamed as she fell down to the ocean, and surely to her death.

Xuan ran to the edge of the iceberg

"LIYUE!!!" he screamed, his heart in his stomach and his eyes filled with tears. He heard Liyue's screams stop suddenly and he saw her eyes turn the same blue as her markings and they, along with her markings, seemed to glow. Her falling slowed and a gush of water shot her back up to the top of the iceberg. She landed next to Xuan and her eyes closed. She fell into his arms and her eyes opened as though she was just waking up from a deep sleep.

"What… what just happened?" Liyue said, obviously trying to figure out why she was being held by Xuan, who was crying and smiling at the same time.

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Please review!!! if anybody out there is reading this, review!!! just say "hi" or something...


	7. A creature at the edge of the iceberg

Liyue sat in her bed_what the hell happened?!? _She thought. Xuan had explained what he saw as he had walked her home, but she still couldn't figure out what had happened. She finally got to sleep, putting her mind at ease. "_Liyue…" said an unknown voice, suddenly, everyone in the room bowed. _Liyue woke up.

"That was a weird dre-" she started, but the dream had escaped her. She tried to think hard, but nothing came into her mind. She decided to go back to the edge of the iceberg, thinking there may be some answers there.

When Liyue got to the edge, she was surprised to see that Xuan was already sitting in the same spot from yesterday.

"Hey." She said as she sat next to him. He snapped out of his zoned out gaze.

"Hey." He responded. Liyue was about to ask him what was wrong, but she lost her train of thought when she heard an odd noise coming from a couple feet away. They both turned quickly, and at first saw nothing. But soon, something about the size of a housecat, moved in the snow. Liyue jumped up ad ran over to the creature. It had a long neck ad a beak. Its legs were long and the front feet were bird talons, the back, some sort of paw. It had a long tail with what seemed like two fans of feathers at the end. But the thing that stood out the most, was the brown arrow that started on its forehead and stretched all the way down it's back to it's tail.

"What do you think it is?" Xuan asked.

"I don't know, but it looks cold." Liyue said, noticing the thing was shivering. She reached over and picked it up, it snuggling tightly against her body.

"Quick, let's get it inside." Xuan said. Liyue nodded.

"But first," she started. She handed the creature to Xuan and pulled off her parka. The icy wind stung her skin, but this little animal needed the coat more than she did. "There." She said, wrapping the thing in her coat so only the head poked out. Xuan didn't even waste time arguing with her, but instead, just started to run back to Liyue's house. They got inside and went straight to her bedroom, Where Liyue put the curled animal on her pillow and under her blanket and slipped back on her coat.

"Liyue, what in the world are you doing?!?" her mother asked, still wondering why her daughter had just run in from the cold without her coat on. She walked into the room and saw Liyue sitting next to a bulge in the covers.

"We found this little guy freezing at the edge of the iceberg." Liyue explained.

"I wonder how it got here." Liyue's mother said. Liyue and Xuan hadn't even thought about that. How _did_ it get there? They looked at each other and then back down at the little animal.

"This is WAY to many mysteries for two days." Xuan said. Liyue's mother what other mysteries they were talking about, but decided to let it be.

Liyue spent the rest of the day taking care of the animal. She knew that however it got here, it was a long journey. The next day, when Liyue woke up, the animal sleeping on her chest, she quietly squirmed out of the covers, trying not to wake it. Her attempts were futile though, because it woke at the first little movement Liyue made.

"Aww, good morning little guy!" she said gleefully, picking the animal up. "Little girl." She corrected after noticing a distinct difference. She put it back down on the bed and began to leave the room. She felt something land on her shoulder only a moment later though.

"Well, somebody can jump." She said. The animal purred a little as it climbed up her shoulder and sat on her head. Liyue laughed and proceeded to the kitchen.

"I see our little friend is feeling better." Liyue's mother asked, noticing the happy animal that sat on her head. Liyue laughed.

"Yup! She woke up this morning feeling just fine." Liyue picked up the newly confused animal off her head on slipped on her parka. She jumped right back onto her shoulder though as soon as her coat was on. Liyue laughed again. _This cutie is so funny_, she thought. She opened the front door and the animal, feeling the rush of cold air, scrambled into her hood.

"I'll be back later." Liyue yelled to her mom as she closed the door. Liyue's mother rarely ever worried about her. She only ever really hung out with Xuan, who she knew was a good kid and wouldn't get either of them into trouble, and she knew Liyue better then to think she was going around doing stupid things that a lot of the kids her age seemed to be doing.

Liyue walked up to the front door of Xuan's house, but before she could even knock, Xuan stepped out, running right into her.

"Oww…" Liyue said as Xuan helped her up

"Sorry." He apologized. The animal in Liyue's hood poked it's head out and looked around. It saw Xuan and jumped onto his shoulder, rubbing against his cheek. It soon realized how cold it was and it jumped back over into Liyue's hood, curling back up into a little ball. They both laughed at the little animal and began to walk away, towards the edge of the iceberg. Xuan didn't want them going to close to the edge this time, so they practiced their waterbending a little closed inland. They weren't necessarily _surprised_ when Nui walked up to them, waving at Xuan.

Being the friendly little creature she was, the animal jumped out of Liyue's hood to greet the seemingly nice new comer.

"Ah! Get it off! Get it off!" Nui screamed as the creature landed gently on her shoulder. Xuan chuckled a little and Liyue called for the animal.

"Come'mer girl." She said, patting her hand on her shoulder. The animal obediently jumped off Nui's shoulder and landed on Liyue's.

"What is that thing?!?" Nui demanded. Xuan and Liyue both shrugged and Nui stomped her foot to the ground in anger. "Great!" she started sarcastically. "Now we have TWO weird things with weird markings!" Nui laughed at her own joke, but neither Xuan nor Liyue thought it was the least bit funny. They acted like she hadn't said a thing and went back to their waterbending. Nui stormed off after they continued to ignore her attempts to join them, well, join Xuan and make Liyue go home.

It started to get dark and Liyue and Xuan decided to get home. Xuan walked Liyue home, where her mother invited him to stay for dinner, which she did often. Half way through dinner, Liyue's mother reminded her that her 16th birthday was only four months from now. Liyue sighed, but smiled when Xuan spoke up.

"I can't wait to go to your party." It was a custom that girls turning 16 had their party in the palace ballroom. And every day, they had a big conjoined party for the small group of girls.


	8. The airbenders

The next day, during waterbending class, Xuan and Liyue were discussing what to name the animal they had found. They had a couple good ideas, and then there were a couple bas ones, like 'Arrowey' and 'Jumper'. Nui asked them why they were going to name some stupid animal, but they only ignored her rude comment. After their classes, Nui walked over to the edge of the iceberg.

"Why can't Xuan like me?" she asked herself. She hung her head and sighed. "I've tried everything! But he always wants to hang out with that… that… FREAK!" Nui sighed again and crossed her arms. She was so used to getting everything she wanted, so why not this? She sat in silence for a little while, hoping Xuan and the freak would show up soon. She knew it was where they always went to hang out and practice their bending. She looked out onto the water. She saw something weird on the sky. It looked like a bunch of little orange dots. As they got closer, she realized that they must be air benders on their legendary gliders, and probably from the southern air temple. She noticed that they were all bald, and most of them had a blue arrow running along their head. They landed on the ice and one of them walked up to her.

"Were looking for a creature that ran away from our temple, have you seen it?" He asked humbly. Nui knew immediately that they were talking about Liyue's little thing. Before she could even tell them that she didn't know where Liyue lived, Xuan walked up from behind them.

"What's going on?" he asked, not necessarily to Nui, but she liked to think he was talking to her.

"These people are looking for Liyue." She said like she didn't care.

"Really?" he asked the man standing in front of Nui. "Why?"

"We need to bring home a run away animal from our temple. It is tradition that it is raised by an airbender." The man responded.

"Oh…" was all Xuan could say.

"Could you show us where 'Liyue' lives?"

"Sure…" he said, and started to walk towards Liyue's house. When they got there, Liyue's mother came to the door.

"Oh, Xuan, Hello." She started. She looked over his shoulder at the group of people dressed in orange and yellow. She invited them in and put on some hot water for tea.

"So… who are your friends?" she asked.

"These are monks from the Southern air temple." He started, repeating what they had told him on the way over. "They're here to take back the animal we found."

"Oh no, Liyue is going to be devastated, just devastated. She's grown so attached to that thing." She barely had time to finish her sentence when Liyue walked in the door, her shoulders weighed down by the bag of groceries that she carried.

"Hey." She said sounding rather confused. The man who had done most of the talking stared at her face for a moment, then stood.

"May I talk to you, somewhere… private?" He asked.

"Um… sure…" she said hesitantly. She led them to her room where the animal jumped out of her hood and curled up on her pillow, purring when Liyue gently placed a hand on her head.

"I came her to tell you that we have to take her" he indicated at the purring animal on Liyue's pillow "back." Before Liyue could object, he explained to her about their tradition of the animal being raised by and airbender. "But," he started, sighing slightly before he continued to talk, "She does seem to have taken a liking to you, and I can tell you have airbender in you." He rubbed his hand along his arrow, and Liyue knew he was referring to her markings. "So, if you want to keep her, as I know you do by the look that was in your eyes when I told you I was going to take her away, then you can." He sighed again, but a smile found a way across his face when the animal stood up and sat on Liyue's lap.

"A couple things you should know, though. This creature is called a sweeline, and she will grow to be very big, very fast. Many people even ride these. She may be tiny now, but wait and see. Also, they are very intelligent; don't underestimate her capabilities. And finally, she can fly." Liyue was dumb stricken by the last statement.

"Really?!?" she asked surprised.

"Yes, really. She will on her own if she wants to, but otherwise, you have to train her to respond to some verbal command. The most common in the temples is 'yip yip', but make it whatever you like. You should start training her soon though, she just barely two weeks old now."

"Really, aww, she's still a little baby." Liyue cooed

"Yes, they are rather cute at this age." He agreed, smiling at the affection the Sweeline was giving Liyue by rubbing her head against her arm. "We have to get going now though, but if you have any questions, we are always in the southern air temple." Without another word, the man walked out of the room, and then out of the house with his comrades.

"He let you keep her?" Xuan asked after they had all left.

"Yeah," she put her hand on one of the markings in her face. "He said I have airbender in me."


	9. PLEASE IGNORE THIS CHAPTER

The next day in waterbending class, Nui walked up to Xuan and Liyue, who were still trying to come up with a name for the sweeline.  
"Too bad they took you animal away." She said mockingly. The sweeline poked it's head out of Liyue's hood and looked over to Nui. "Hey! Why do you still have it? Did you steal it?" She yelled.  
"One, she's not an it, and two, no, they let me keep her." Liyue said firmly. Nui rolled her eyes and walked away.  
"So, what was that you were saying?" Xuan asked.  
"Oh… right! I have a good idea for a name." Liyue started. "Aira." The sweeline poked it's head out of Liyue's hood.  
"Well, it looks like she likes it." Xuan pointed out.  
"Ok then, it's decided!" She started to scratch the sweeline's chin. "Aira…"

Aira quickly got used to the cold and stopped traveling in Liyue's hood, which was a good thing; the airbender's were right about her growing quickly. Only two weeks later, she was already the size of a small golden retriever. They had started training her to fly on command and she started to respond to Liyue clicking her tongue, and to 'yip yip.'  
"So, Liyue, where are you going to get your dress for your 16th?" Xuan asked one day as they walked home from their class.  
"I'm actually not going to buy it." Liyue responded.  
"What do you mean?" Xuan asked, the sarcastically continued, "Are you just going to go in your coat?"  
"No, I'm gonna make it." Liyue said. "I know the protocol, I am pretty good at sewing, and I want it to be personal."  
"Wow…" Xuan said in amazement. They approached Liyue's house. "Good luck," he said, and without even thinking, he kissed her on the forehead. "Though I don't think you'll need it." He turned to walk away. Leaving Liyue blushing until her markings turned purple. She waked inside, Aira happily trotting behind her. Something made Liyue think Aira knew how she was feeling. 'The air nomads did tell me they were extremely smart creatures.' She went in her room and picked up a small pile of scrolls, all of which were littered with dress ideas and designs. She thought about the rules for the dress. It must have the female mark of the water, it must show off her neck and shoulders to show that there was no betrothal necklace, and it must have a symbol that represented them. The symbol that represented them was so misused; everyone just used the mark of the their water tribe. Liyue thought about what symbol she wanted to use to mark herself. Just then, she had an idea. She quickly sketched out the symbol and put it in a place on one of her other designs. It was perfect.

She went out the next day with Aira to look for materials for her dress. She was in the biggest cloth stores in the city, and as she was looking a sheet of light blue cloth, someone started looking at it from the other end. They both attempted to pick it up at once, causing them to realize who was holding the other end.  
"Liyue!" The other girl said excitedly.  
"Wow, Karra, what are you doing here?" Liyue asked  
"Picking out materials for my dress. I'm assuming you're doing the same." Liyue nodded and laughed.  
"What's yours going to look like?" Liyue asked.  
"I'm not sure yet, I came here for some inspiration." She said. "Are you still great at designing like you always were?"  
"I wouldn't say great, but I drew out dozens of dress sketches if you want to see them. You know, for inspiration."  
"Sure!" Karra responded cheerfully. Liyue walked outside with Karra and whistled for Aira. She soon saw Aira jump down from the top of a nearby building. Karra was startled at first, but when she sat Liyue pat the creature's head, she knew nothing was wrong.

They walked to Liyue's house, Aira jumping up on to the bed, and Liyue grabbed the pile of scrolls off her shelves. They spent the couple of hours just looking through the designs, picking out the bits and pieces they liked most. Finally, they had gotten something together for Karra. They went back to the clothes store, and picked out materials in purples, blues, and pinks. As they walked out of the store, Aira eagerly jumped up from lying on the sidewalk and trotted over to Liyue.  
"What should we do now?" Karra asked, noticing that it was starting to get dark. Liyue shrugged.  
"Oh, wait, we could go see Xuan." Liyue suggested.  
"That's a great idea, I haven't seen Xuan in so long!" Karra said excitedly. "But doesn't he live that way?" She asked, pointing opposite the way they were walking.  
"Yeah, why?"  
"By the time we get to your place then to his, it'll be dark out." Karra pointed out.  
"I have an idea," Liyue started. She turned to Aira. "Wanna help us out?" she asked the sweeline. Aira let out a happy meow and nodded her head. Aira then bit on the edge of the bag Liyue was carrying. Meet us at Xuan's house, okay?" Aira nodded again and Liyue dropped the bag, leaving the handle in Aira's mouth. "Yip yip." Aira jumped into the air and flew away.  
"That is so cool!" Karra said in amazement.  
"Yeah, she is." Liyue agreed. They started to walk in the opposite direction, and, to Karra's surprise, by the time they got Xuan's, Aira was already sitting at Xuan's feet.

Sorry, this story is totally dead- has been since like, '08 or something. I was just deleting it from another website, and I found never put this chapter on fanfic (where I'm keeping it for nostalgic reasons) so I'm saving it here..


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